Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem at the Sovereignty tent vigil: The Trump plan is terrible and endangers Israel several times more than the expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif and northern Samaria.
Today (Sunday), June 21st, 2020) the ‘Three Days of Reserve Duty for the Land of Israel’ tent vigil was launched by the Sovereignty Movement in front of the Prime Minister’s Office with the slogan “Yes to Sovereignty over the Land of Israel, No to Palestine”.
The event opened with remarks by Yehudit Katsover, one of the co-chairwomen of the Sovereignty Movement, who mentioned the expressions made by American President Trump and Secretary of State Pompeo, on the legality of Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria, a statement that stems from the recognition of the People of Israel’s right to its Land. This ethical and just understanding totally contrasts with recognition of the possibility of establishing an Arab state in the heart of the Jewish People’s Land, stated Katsover.
Katsover also quoted from one of the first paragraphs of the Trump plan, which views the two sides, the Israeli and the Arab, as having equal in rights in a two-sided conflict. “This relates to the Israelis and the Palestinians as suffering from the situation equally, without relating to the fact that it is actually the situation of an aggressor against the one who is attacked”. According to her, ignoring the fact that the Israeli People have been victims of violence and have suffered for the right to live in its Land is unacceptable and an extremely severe ethical flaw.
One of the speakers on the first day of the tent vigil was Deputy Mayor of the City of Jerusalem, Aryeh King, who made a sharp comparison between these days of struggle over the Trump plan and the days of struggle over the expulsion from Gush Katif. King criticized Prime Minister Netanyahu for thwarting Jewish settlement in Jerusalem and allowing it only after real political pressure and threats.
“What Arik Sharon did was nothing compared to what Bibi wants to do, in its seriousness”, stated King, claiming that the plan is not from Trump, who is to the right of Netanyahu, but that it is the plan of Netanyahu, who seeks to divide Jerusalem and establish a terror state in the heart of the Land. “The distance between the terror state in Jerusalem that Bibi is talking about is not one and a half or two kilometers. It is enough for the terrorist to sit and shoot from the balcony into Pisgat Ze’ev or Neve Ya’akov. And then, there won’t be the Shin Bet, the Border Police or the IDF. It would be a state that Bibi supports. Entry of Israeli forces into Shuafat would be like a declaration of war, which would also be recognized by the UN as a declaration of war”.
King continues, stating that even if Netanyahu knew how to deal with the terror threat, and not as it has turned out in the Gaza Strip, “we will not allow him to surrender one meter of the Land of Israel or one centimeter of Jerusalem”. According to him, Netanyahu, with his behavior, is implementing the platform of Yossi Sarid and Shulamit Aloni (of the leftist Meretz Party).
Another speaker on the first day of the tent vigil for sovereignty was Atty. Nili Nahori – Kupfer, coordinator for the organization, Israel is Forever, who stated that “the U.S. support for the application of sovereignty is indeed laudable, but we must not recognize, even in a totally theoretical way, the right of any Arab Israelis to our Land in exchange for this support. Accepting the Trump plan as is, is like going back to the Bar Ilan speech, it is accepting the Arabs’ narrative, it is denying our historic right to Judea and Samaria”.
“We must say with a clear voice, “It is entirely ours”, said Ze’ev Jabotinsky. All of the Land of Israel is ours and Judea and Samaria, the source of our right to the entire Land, even more so. Not only 30% of Judea and Samaria, but all of Judea and Samaria, every community, every road, every stone!”.
Among the visitors to the Sovereignty Tent Vigil was also Prof. Aryeh Eldad, who spoke and held a conversation with members of the Sovereignty Youth movement, who participated in setting up the tent vigil. For the entire duration of the event, the movement’s youths will hold hasbara discussions and activities on the vision of sovereignty and the total rejection of the idea of dividing the Land.